What is spine surgery for pain?

Depending on your condition and its symptoms, spine surgery may be helpful. Different surgical procedures are used for different conditions:

Microsurgery. A surgeon uses a hollow needle to remove some of the soft core of a swollen disk so that it no longer puts pressure on a nerve. Other microsurgical procedures can remove fragments of core disk material that have broken through the fibrous outer wall.

Diskectomy. Diskectomy is the surgical removal of part of a herniated disk and is done to relieve pressure on the nerve. In this procedure, the core of the disk is removed, leaving the tough outer casing in place between the vertebrae.

Spinal fusion. Fusion — surgically fusing vertebrae together to immobilize them —also can be done for back instability. It sometimes brings long-term relief, but there is no guarantee of permanent recovery.

Laminotomy. Another surgical option is a procedure called a laminotomy, in which a small amount of vertebral bone is removed to relieve pressure on the nearby nerve.

Disk replacement. This is the replacement of damaged or worn intervertebral disk with new artificial parts. This is a relatively new procedure, and the risks and benefits have yet to be fully determined.

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